Finding Lily

43- Alex

Waves crashed against the shore. It was hot out, too hot to bake in the sun without some sort of cover. My mother was underneath an umbrella and father was right next to her, each of them sitting in a beach chair, reading.

"Daddy, come play with me." I begged, burying my toes in the hot sand as I pouted at him. I was holding a small plastic ball in my hands.

He put his book down and glanced at mom. Then he smiled mischievously at me. "I think that's my ball."

"No, it's mine."

He stood up, towering over me. He blocked the sun from reaching my small frame and I took a step back, smile growing on my chubby face. "I think I'm gonna take it back." He told me.

My eyes grew wide and I ran away, legs pumping as my feet pounded into the sand. I didn't make it far before his strong arms grabbed me, wrapping around my waist and carrying me to the water. I screeched as drops of water splashed against my skin, wriggling against his strong hold.

Then he let me go, dropping me into the waves. As soon as I stood up, I splashed him. Mom had joined by then, throwing water at us, laughing, running away in her white cover up while her black hair trailed behind her. Eventually, dad caught up and carried her wedding style, her arm draped loosely over her shoulders, his lips planting a kiss on her cheek. Laughing, smiling, loving.

"Lily?"

A voice broke the visions dancing in my head. The beach I was staring at went back to being normal, empty, not another soul in sight. I let the memory of my smiling parents linger just a moment longer, burning their faces into my mind, before I turned to face Luke.

"Are you ok?" He whispered with a broken voice. His eyes were crinkled from pain as he looked at me, crouched down in the sand next to where I sat.

"We have to go, don't we?" The sun wasn't setting quite yet, but it was close. We had to leave the island before it grew dark unless we wanted to spend another night in this place I liked to call hell. For some reason, I had been stalling. Leaving didn't feel right.

"I was wondering if you wanted to check out the cave first." Luke stood up and held out his hand. I grabbed it and he lifted me up gently, pulling me into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling his head in my neck, warm. I was stiff. I put a hand on his back, but my eyes were still fixed on the beach. I envisioned my father again, happy.

When Luke let me go, he shot me one last look before we headed to the mountain. We skirted around it, searching for the entrance. It felt weird walking so casually, not worried about cameras or traps, or leaving footprints in the dirt. I couldn't help but glance back every once in a while just to make sure we were in fact alone on the island. Paranoia that Ray Malone tricked us into thinking it was over when he had a plan to blow up the island suddenly entered my brain.

When we reached the camouflaged door in the mountain, we exchanged a glance when we realized it was left open. Either Ray didn't care if we ventured inside or he had gotten careless. Hesitantly, Luke pushed the door all the way open and led the way inside. It was a dimly lit hallway with a couple of doors on the sides and a living area straight ahead.

As Luke searched the closed rooms, I pressed forward. I was standing in a living room with rocks for walls, some jagged and some smooth, the highest point at least fifteen feet tall. Ray had gutted out the mountain to put a living space inside of it. It was all open concept except for the bathroom and bedrooms that must have been hiding behind doors. The decorations were scarce. A thick cotton rug covered most of the floor, its pattern of blues and greys reminding me of a cloudy sky. The only light inside was artificial, most of it coming from a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

"He definitely had drugs here but he must have moved them." Luke reported. I watched him exit one of the rooms with a bit of white dust on his fingertips. He examined it for a moment before wiping it off on his pants.

"Any sign of Jane?" Despite myself, I had gotten my hopes up. Just a little.

"Nothing." Luke helped me search the bedroom. It was past the dining room table that had been set for two. It had a queen-sized bed and an armoire on the same wall. I opened each of the cabinets and drawers, finding nothing. Then I went to the bed-side table and opened the drawer. Nothing.

I looked around the room, confused. There had to be some clue here, something we were missing. I opened the bedside table again. If Jane had been here, I guessed this would be the place she hid something. I kneeled down and stuck my arm inside, feeling every inch of the wood. Then I hit something shoved way in the back. It was a plastic fork. I was confused at first, but then I knew.

"He has Jane." I reported.

Luke had been in the kitchen rifling through the drawers. He looked up at me, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw what was in my hand. "You sure?"

"Yes. We need to get her, now." Panic was rising in my chest as I threw the fork back on the bedside table. Ray had lied about Jane, and I just let him leave the island without any kind of fight.

Storming out of the mountain with Luke hot on my heels, we had made it back to the dock in no time at all. I stopped short when I saw a blonde woman sitting on the side with her legs dangling over the water, her wet shirt dripping onto the cement dock.

"Jane?" Luke had been the one to call out to her. The blonde woman's head snapped over to look at us, relief immediately lighting up her face. She stood and stared at me for a minute, taking in my dirty black clothes and swollen face. A smile grew on hers and suddenly, she was running at me. I met her in the middle, throwing my arms around her when she was close and burying my head against her long wet hair.

"I can't believe it's you." I breathed. Standing back for a second to get a better look at her, I was surprised to see most of her features had remained the same. The same hair, the same green eyes, the same white smile. She was wearing jeans and a purple sweater, and if it weren't for her soaked exterior, I would have forgotten the circumstances of our reunion. "Did you swim here?"

"Yeah. Ray wanted me to leave with him. I didn't." She explained. "I knew you were here. I could feel it."

I pulled her in for another hug. "I'm so glad you're alive."

"Right back at ya, sis."

Jane pulled away to get a good look at Luke. I watched as her eyes raked over him, first with suspicion, then appreciation, then confusion. "And who's this?"

"Luke. He's only saved my life about ten times now." I explained.

"Nice to finally meet you, Jane." Luke gave her a slight head nod.

"You as well. Now whadda you say we get the hell off this island?"